KANSAS CITY — A potential Hall of Fame journey for several former Broncos began on Wednesday.

Nine players and a coach with Broncos ties made the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 108-person preliminary list. Those making the cut: coach Dan Reeves, safety Steve Atwater, running backs Terrell Davis and Clinton Portis, kicker Jason Elam, safety John Lynch, linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, center Tom Nalen, lineman Mark Schlereth and receiver Rod Smith. It will be trimmed to 25 semifinalists in November and 15 in January.

Davis received a strong push last season, and his candidacy was strengthened by the recent Hall of Fame election of Jerome Bettis.

“I just wait. I look at it. I watch it closely, more than I did before. I never looked at it before, but now I do. I look at it. Congratulations to (former Pittsburgh Steelers great) Jerome Bettis for going in,” Davis said. “But for me, it’s something I just can’t, I can’t control it. It’s hard to worry about it because I just can’t do anything. The work is done. The hay is in the barn.”

In light of Clinton Portis’ retirement press conference Thursday with the Washington Redskins, I’ve read some reviews of the famous Portis-Champ Bailey trade that occurred prior to the 2004 season. The reviews pretty much say the Broncos got the better end of the deal.

Clinton Portis celebrates with a world heavyweight belt given to him by Shannon Sharpe after Portis scored five of the team's six TDs against the Chiefs on Dec. 7, 2003.

When Peyton Manning signs with Denver, he will immediately became the most significant free-agent catch in Broncos history. Here are the 10 biggest personnel moves in Broncos history prior to landing Manning.

1. Trade: In 1983, the Broncos changed the course of the team’s history when they sent guard Chris Hinton, quarterback Mark Herrmann and a first-round pick in the 1984 draft to the Colts for the rights to Stanford quarterback John Elway. The Colts eventually used that ’84 pick on guard Ron Solt, who played nine seasons in the league, a nice career. But three nice careers do not add up to one all-time great and two Super Bowl titles.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.